I Married the Mad Duke Who Killed My Husband - Chapter 74
“You acknowledge the meetings? Does this mean you’re admitting that the First Prince is not of imperial blood, Empress?”
“No. I acknowledge meeting Lorang, but the timing he claims and the timing I remember are not the same.”
The Empress used honorifics, perhaps because she was on trial as a defendant before the Emperor.
It was unexpected that she admitted to meeting Lorang, but upon slow reconsideration, it was a better strategy than stubbornly denying everything.
“I had been meeting and continuing a relationship with him from the winter before my marriage to His Majesty the Emperor, but I never met him after the marriage. The only contact was a letter I sent. As a witness, I’ve brought the maid who attended to me on the street during that first winter when I met him.”
“What?! But at that time, you were clearly alone…!”
“Silence. The Empress is speaking.”
Lorang burst out as the Empress gestured towards a maid who supposedly attended to her in her maiden days. Before anyone could stop him, he stood up abruptly, but the Emperor impassively gestured for him to sit down.
“You certainly went out to the streets with me. It wasn’t 27 years ago, but 28 years ago in winter.”
“Are you certain it was 28 years ago, staking your life on it?”
“I-I’m certain! I remember because I got married that year as well.”
The Empress’s maneuvering didn’t end there. As the Emperor nodded in understanding and the maid retreated, a new witness entered. It was an ordinary old man.
“At that time, street artists gathered in one place to paint. I’d like to call as an additional witness the artist who was painting portraits near Lorang at the time.”
“Uh…? Uncle, could it be…?”
I bit my lip as I saw Lorang familiarly addressing the man as ‘Uncle’. There’s no need to confirm here that he’s a real acquaintance!
“I also remember 28 years ago in winter, Lorang painting a picture of Her Majesty the Empress. Although Her Majesty didn’t reveal her identity, I remember because she had a grace unlike ordinary women on the street. Not just me, but other artists remember too, but they were all afraid to appear in court… so this old man came as a representative.”
“Are you also willing to stake your life on this?”
“Yes…! How much time does this old man have left to tell lies? I’m certain. It was 28 years ago in winter, and that maid was behind Her Majesty the Empress while Lorang was painting her.”
To think she even bribed fake witnesses. It was clear that if we tried to object here, she would just bring out a string of other witnesses, so I waited for the right moment while watching the aggrieved Lorang.
“Your Majesty. I swear on the glory of the Empire that I have never betrayed you. I clearly informed you before our marriage that I was not a virgin, and didn’t you say you didn’t mind as long as I bore an heir of imperial blood?”
The courtroom became unnaturally quiet at the Empress’s shocking statement. No one could easily swallow, and unable to look at the Empress sitting in the defendant’s seat, they just stared at the air or each other.
“Indeed. That’s what political marriages are like. If the First Prince is truly my bloodline, even if you met that man before our marriage, it wouldn’t be a grave crime.”
I bit my lip. In other words, the Emperor won’t charge the Empress with adultery or insulting the imperial family, even for political reasons. All that matters to the Emperor is whether the two princes are his children.
In this situation, we needed to prove not only the Empress’s infidelity but also definitively that the First Prince was not of imperial blood.
“If it’s punishment for not serving Your Majesty as a virgin, I’ll accept it gladly, but I’d like to ask about their insult to the imperial family. Isn’t it natural that he looks similar when dressed up like that? Even his appearance might be due to makeup or disguise.”
“Is the face different from what you remember?”
“He was exceptionally handsome, but… it’s been so long that my memory is hazy. However, if it’s fabricated, that in itself is an act of deceiving the imperial family.”
“No…!”
Perhaps shocked, Lorang stood up abruptly once again. This time, the Emperor didn’t stop him and just stared at him. For the first time, the Empress’s cold gaze also turned towards him. As if following suit, all the spectators’ eyes turned to Lorang, who seemed overwhelmed and stammered.
“It-it’s a lie! There’s no way you don’t remember me, no, I…”
As if the smoothness of his first statement had been a lie, Lorang stumbled over his words. It seems that calmness could only be maintained when things went according to the situation we had planned.
As the Emperor let out a light sigh, Lorang closed his mouth, fidgeted, and turned to look at me.
Well, it’s fortunate that guy didn’t cry.
“Your Majesty, may I be excused for a moment?”
“Granted.”
I took out the water I had brought separately. Actually, I didn’t bring it to use like this, but because we couldn’t drink the beverages prepared in the courtroom due to the risk of poisoning, I brought it separately in case I got thirsty.
“Th-thank y… Puhub!”
“Oh my!”
Thinking I was giving him water to calm him down, Lorang bowed, and water spilled over his round golden crown. Someone gasped again.
The spectators must be having a good time. They can watch this variety-show-like trial overflowing with dopamine without any worries. I whispered as I took out a handkerchief from my bosom.
“Raise your head.”
“Oof, puh. M-ma’am. Just…!”
“Keep your mouth shut.”
I shouldn’t look like I’m torturing Lorang. While supporting Lorang’s nape, I vigorously rubbed his face, which looked even more innocent as if he had just washed it.
Of course, nothing came off.
The white handkerchief makes it more dramatic.
“As you can see, it’s not a disguise. This is his true appearance, without makeup or prosthetics.”
“Th-that’s right! This is how I naturally look!”
Before releasing Lorang’s nape, I pinched it lightly once more, causing him to blurt out words. He was like a doll that makes a sound when you press a button.
“People who’ve seen me rarely forget me!”
It was a statement bordering on narcissism, but it was exactly what we had trained Lorang to say. It’s more effective when he says it proudly himself. Of course, we expected the Empress to say she didn’t remember Lorang.
“Well… his appearance.”
“That’s true. A face like that…”
The spectators expressed agreement. Lorang, looking even more innocent like a fairy with his wet appearance, seemed to belie his age of over forty.
It wouldn’t be easy to forget spending more than a year with a man in the prime of his looks, no matter how much time had passed. If anything, one would remember it for a long time.
But the Empress was not to be underestimated.
“When I investigated the records from when he lived in Lirento, it seems he didn’t live a particularly constructive life. For a man of that age with all limbs intact, he seemed to have lived quite poorly. Instead of honing his painting skills, he chose to seduce such a naive Duchess.”
“…!”
Lorang’s face turned bright red at the mention of his life in Lirento. The flush on his pale face was so evident that even though the Empress’s latter words weren’t true, they seemed to be, making me click my tongue.
“I’m ashamed to have shared feelings with you even for a moment, and I apologize to the Duke and Duchess. We can’t easily overlook your scheme to make a fortune by exploiting their goodwill towards the imperial family.”
In short, it was an offer of reconciliation, saying that if he backs down now, we, or at least I alone, would be forgiven. Are they planning to resolve this by dismissing it as a scheme for money orchestrated by Lorang alone?
But when a woman has started something, we can’t back down so half-heartedly.
“Don’t you… don’t you know me well? We spent a year together, don’t you remember me?”
“I was too young and naive. Women of that age are bound to be deceived by the power of appearance.”
Ignoring Lorang’s desperate gaze, the Empress’s words, directed at me, seemed to imply that not only she but I too had been deceived by looks at a young age.
As the tide of the trial fluctuated and began to turn, the Emperor, who had been listening to the verdict without a change in expression, rang a bell.
“This doesn’t seem like it will end quickly, so let’s take a break. Those participating in this trial can leave the room briefly but cannot leave the building. Anyone who doesn’t return will be punished, so be aware.”
After announcing a short recess, the Emperor gathered some documents handed to him from both sides and swiftly left his seat.
Only the attendants serving the Emperor hurriedly followed, and the courtroom, belatedly relieved, buzzed with people’s voices.
“Lorang.”
“….”
“Let’s go out and come back in. It would be good to cool our heads.”
“…Yes.”
People now openly stared at Lorang, who was trembling with some indescribable emotion, and whispered to each other. Amidst them, Cassion and I, the Second Prince and Lorang, all left our seats.
I saw the Empress and the First Prince leaving from the opposite side as well.
“….”
“Lorang.”
I had to call Lorang’s name a couple more times as he stopped, staring at the Empress’s retreating figure without hesitation. On his face, which had turned somewhat pale after being doused with water, only his tightly bitten lips remained red.
It was an expression filled with anger that I never thought I’d see on Lorang.
